Seramune

Which begins... with the story of his father. Ancient Seramune is what they called him. Not because he was old beyond reasoning. He was an elder dragon, but not an unreasonable age, they were all sure. It was not his age in years that affected such a title, no, it was the vast wisdom he possessed, the quiet mysterious look in his eyes. He seemed to always know just the right thing to do to fix any problem. It was why he was the Clan's leader of course. He lead them well for many years and if there was any trait one could attribute to Seramune beyond his wisdom it was that he was mysterious. Seramune rarely explained his decisions or his actions and his clan rarely doubted him; he'd proven he was capable and wise, so there was no reason to stop following him, even if they didn't always understand his reasons.

Ancient Seramune was awake early on the morning when it all happened. He fluttered near the entrance to Clan Dreamstar's hidden cave, a vast cavern situated behind a copse of trees and brambles in the Wispwillow Grove. Seramune was anxious. He had a feeling tingling in the tips of his toes and running all the way down his tail. Something was coming. He flitted back from the cavern opening insistently, determined not to simply stand and wait for something to happen.
He moved to the very back of the Cavern where the dragons of his clan made their nests and checked over his own clutch fitfully. He turned each egg carefully so that they would be evenly warmed and spent a few moments admiring the raw potential that an egg held within it. He glanced up and noticed other dragons of his clans caringly minding their own nests. His mate... well, his current mate anyway, was not present so it must have been a meal time as well. He floated thoughtfully toward the twist in the cavern where the dragons kept their food stores, and surely enough, there were several dragons inside feasting upon the clans hoards. The one he was looking for was there as well, his current mate, Lady Serluna.
She was not a bad choice, as Fae went, he thought. She was colored almost identically to himself, but with a brilliant icy pattern shooting across her body and wings. He liked that part less than her other colors if he was honest, but more importantly, she had been a strong, clever match with which to breed. His current clutch was nearly ready to hatch and after they did, Serluna was already talking excited about moving on again. He had seen many such Fae who were not comfortable staying in one place for long and he didn't blame her. He approached the basket of bugs where Serluna was feasting quietly and took a grub for himself while asking her to go and mind the nest. Serluna didn't like being ordered around but when she began to protest, Seramune said simply, "Please..." His voice was quiet, subdued and full of that distant, mysterious tone that he so often had when he was speaking of something he simply knew without explanation. Serluna took an extra handful of bugs and put a clawed hand on Seramune's shoulder briefly before darting out to return to her egg-minding duties.
Satisified that his eggs were being tended, Seramune moved back to the central cavern. There were dragons moving about, getting ready to go out for digging up treasures and searching for abandoned eggs. Seramune moved back to the hidden entrance and gazed outward. Something kept telling him that today was no day to leave the lair. Something...
As the clan's digging team started out to search for abandoned treasures, Seramune warned them that today it might be best to stay at home. They looked out across the land and thought it a crazy notion. The sky was dull and gloomy, the wind was just right for flying. They reassured Seramune that they would be careful, and one by one, stepped out of the lair and spread their wings.
He watched them go with a heavy sigh. His bad feeling wouldn't go away... When he looked back at the rest of his clan, few that remained and each with their own duties, he hoped that they would all weather the coming storm. He wished most that he understood what it was so that he could warn them more ably. But as he had no luck in coming up with a way to express his concerns, he simply stood his vigil and waited...

... No one is still with us who can tell us precisely what happened that day. Every dragon who lived with Clan Dreamstar that long ago has either moved on or passed from the world. We have our stories handed down from our fathers, our mothers and other friends who lived with Ancient Seramune long ago when Clan Dreamstar was still relatively small and young. When the dragons returned that day from their digs, they found that their home had been attacked, most of the dragons who had stayed behind were sealed in the Nesting Grounds with the eggs, ready to defend if anything broke through. A few of their kin had fought and fought bravely, defending their clan until they had been too injured to fight... But amid the injured dragons lay one tiny, still form...

Ancient Seramune had stood before them all, they said, bringing powerful shadow magic to his claws with arcane chants and complicated gestures. He had brought forth barriers and restorative magic to aid those who fought with him, and they spoke in whispers hushed of the power he wielded that day... But whatever it was that came to Dreamhome on that fateful morning, it was too much for the dragons who remained and for its powerful little leader. But Seramune's wisdom had won the day for them even still. While their treasures were picked over and some things were taken, and they lost some food from their stores, hope was not lost. He had called the remaining dragons to move certain items and most of their food into their nesting grounds which he had then ordered all the less combatant dragons into, and with a complicated series of gestures and a long and complex chanting sound, he had sealed the cavern so that it could not be found.

The digging team had set about digging the nesting grounds open again and the other dragons had begun tending their wounds. There was a hush over the cavern as each dragon worked feverishly at his own task, thinking not too hard about the day, lest they lose the will to keep moving. Ancient Seramune lay dead on the cold stone floor, his little wizard hat pressed down over his eyes. When the nesting grounds were open once more, the dragons inside poured out to help the others... When they found that their clan leader had perished in the fight, all of them were deeply agrieved. If only they had listened that morning... If only they had taken his feeling seriously... They set about the unpleasant task of arranging a wake.

At the crest of the night, when the hour was darkest, the clan moved out under the stars in a solemn procession. The stars glimmered brightly overhead, shimmering lights in the dark and gloomy Shadow-land skies. The dragons moved to the stone table that lie in the center of the Wispwillow grove... an ancient and powerful place where Dragons came to stand before their clan and bid them final farewell as they departed to join Mother Shadowbinder's glorious service. They carried their beloved leader to this place of power and laid him on the stone table as they gathered all around. They mourned and wept as the sky grew darker and darker and the night grew colder still.

It was a moment in which they expected only grief that the glimmer of hope took light. It was a moment when they did not ask for anything, and when nothing seemed possible that a thunderously loud motion flapped once overhead and the entire clan was driven to gaze into the gloomy night sky. They could see nothing but darkness. When the clan looked away, returning their gazes to stone table, Ancient Seramune had vanished. He was simply gone! All that remained was his battered old gray hat. Serluna darted forward and landed on the stone table, gazing down in disbelief. She quivered out a strange little sound that most of the other dragons would not understand to be grief... and slowly picked up the little hat which was all that remained of the finest mate she'd ever had. And beneath the little hat lie a single, tiny, shadowy little egg.
The clan was confused and in awe... But Serluna took up the egg and clutched it carefully, holding it in the tiny hat. She looked up at the others with a sad, strange smile. The clan returned to Dreamhome in an awed Silence.

It was not until the egg was ready to hatch that the rest of the clan fully understood. They gathered round out of respect to Ancient Seramune as his eggs began wiggling and cracking. Serluna stood nearby with the little gray hat held in one claw. She picked and pried at pieces of the hatching eggs as they cracked, helping her little ones into the world. When each was born, they flitted over to press against her side for warmth and Serluna wrapped her wings down around her children. When the last egg began to crack, Serluna helped the tiny fae to crawl free from the shell. The clan gazed wistfully at Seramune's son, a larger fae than most. The hatchling rubbed at his face and slowly looked up at the watching crowd...

... and the clan saw a twinkling wisdom in the little fae's eyes. They didn't know how, and they didn't know why... But somehow, they knew that Seramune was with them once more... And this time, they would be sure to never fail their beloved leader again.